Donald M. Crothers

Finding the bend angle and bending flexibility of the EcoRI restriction sequence by minimizing the difference between experimental data and the computer simulation.

Research In our research we seek to understand how the structure, dynamics, and protein binding properties of nucleic acids contribute to their function. Current projects include characterization of the sequence dependence of curvature and flexibility, and the role of these variables in determining the affinity for core histones and regulatory proteins. We also focus on the dynamics of protein-DNA complexes, using NMR and stopped flow methods. Of particular interest is the dependence of the activation energy for DNA bending by proteins on DNA sequence.